After reading people's comments, I wasn't expecting to like the book as much as I did. Now that I've finally finished it, I can say that it was quite enjoyable, but definitely not one of my favorites. I'm not sure why-there were some delightful new characters (Grag Bashfullsson, Brick, A.E. Pessimal-and what does his name mean? I'm sure it's a play on something but I can't figure out what.) I agree that Sally was merely annoying (Maladicta would be more fun in the watch and had way more personality.)

Part of the problem was that I was too worried about the outcome to enjoy the book. For me, it was a lot like Night Watch in that I wasn't convinced it was going to have a happy ending. There have been similar books dealing with conflicts between opposing countries or civilizations (Jingo, for example, or Monstrous Regiment) but those seemed more interested in the characters, and the war was background. In Thud, the Koom Valley conflict loomed over everything, and the characters seemed more incidental.

I don't think there was much development of the regular crew (except Vimes and his son, and frankly, those bits just annoyed me, even though I realize the story time was a set-up for the end). And maybe it's the fictional equivalent of racism (specieism?) at work, but I just wasn't as attached to the dwarf characters as I am to Vimes and Vetinari.

The game Thud was neat, though, and I liked the various uses of it. I think I might enjoy it better on re-reading (now that I know the ending), but it's not going to be one of the ones that put a smile on my face just thinking about them. Most of his books (most recently Going Postal) I get to the end and wish there was another 500 pages. Thud, I just wanted it to be over. Sad but true.

Edited to add paragraphs (sorry folks, I didn't realize I had that much to say).